I’m done with Amazon. Anyone with me?

[Mistymeg]

A few things happened:

1. a good few times now I’ve been mortified to accidentally order WAY more than I’ve needed. 100 swim nappies anyone?

2. lost track of who is an individual seller vs Amazon themselves. I know there are ways to check but the net net is paying over and above for someone else to make a profit. Eg I bought ‘M&S Swiss chocolate’ Christmas tree baubles in a hurry in December, only to realise it arrived from an independent seller and they were over the odds in price. I was stung in my panic. Another time I ordered Well Baby vitamins, again more arrived than I needed and the sell by date was 3 months away…. Sent the box back.

3. when buying from boutique sellers, items come from China with long shipping timelines and a headache to return (have to pay yourself or if you order multiple items they all need to go back individually) I ordered a good few items for a holiday and fought with Amazon for 2 hours to send them all back in one package to Amazon vs 15 individual returns, a label for each one.

Over all I’ve saved so much money by deleting the app and looking elsewhere for items I really need rather than the easy one click Amazon.

It looks like you're careless.
I use Amazon all the time and have never had any problems because I read all the information.

When I moved home in 2022.I purchase all the DIY purchases.At that time I had Amazon prime.I must of spent around £1500.00 very convenient we had so much Decorating & DIY to carry out! Forward to Spring 2024 When I checked my Amazon account a Scammer had placed a fraudulent Mastercard on my Amazon prime account in my name & removed my Default Debit card.All Amazon advised was to change my password really! Hence I closed the account down.The last 3 items I purchased from Amazon went on to the fraudulent Mastercard.This card was active.I contacted Mastercard who said that they held no card in my name,yet Mastercard refused payment on the the fraudulent card & contacted Amazon which was clearly active! Posting this to warn people that accounts can be can hacked & Amazon are clearly not interested!

Amazon saved me today! I ordered a new phone with an eSIM, as soon as it was signed for I started to lose service on my old phone, switched on the new phone and completely lost service on my old phone.

Problem was, I wasn’t expecting new phone until tomorrow! And my new phone case was also due tomorrow too.

Given I am accident prone and holding a thousand quid in my hands I ordered a case on Amazon again, and to my surprise it was same day delivery- and I live rural! Sending you this from my new phone that is now accident proof!

I'm not sure about that.

You might have accidentally brushed against it's little toe nail... Nope, I can't even envisage that regarding cheap shit from China clearly listed on Amazon.

However, not many MNers know this, but Amazon, the online shopping giant, isn't actually in the Amazon!

That'll give them something to talk about. Pearls clutched, knickers twisted.

There is also the fact that you need a couple of things, but parking in town is £4, it's pissing it down, they may not have what you want when you get there. Or you can sit at home warm and dry and get free delivery of the exact item you want.

You haven't poked the MN bear. There are plenty of good reasons to shop somewhere other than Amazon, it's just that your examples aren't good reasons, because they were your own fault!

Take a look at the documentary Buy now on Netflix. It will make you rethink Amazon and a lot of your shopping habits.

I don't get the people telling the OP that it's her fault. Amazon's user interface is renown for encouraging spend and not in the public interest. The scandal about prime auto enrollment a few years ago was the main one.

I try to ensure I buy from Amazon rather than marketplace, but sometimes different colours of the same item have been from a marketplace seller. You do need to have your wits about you.

High street shops “interface” are also renowned for encouraging spend not in the public interest 🤷‍♀️

chocolate at tills etc- stock placed where children can see and beg. If you go to a supermarket and buy a couple of bars of chocolate and a kids magazine at the till you didn’t really want to buy is that the shop’s fault?

there’s millions thrown into researching how to place products to encourage people to buy, whether they want them or not.

it’s one of the main positives to online shopping for me, I can resist the impulse buying of a physical shop.

You have to be very careful and have your wits about you which undercuts the benefit and convenience. It's easy to get completely shafted.

There was a post on here recently about someone being surprised that something that was shipped by Amazon but sold by a third party was a fake - because they though the shipped by Amazon was some kind of gurantee.

I had one product that I routinely bought from Amazon because it was much cheaper than anywhere else. I would just chuck 5 or so in a basket from a previous order without thinking about it. I went to do this recently and luckily before I checked out realised that it was now waay more expensive per item than it had been before. I don't mean difference between Aldi and Waitrose type price difference, I mean double the price rip-off difference.

It's a bit of a pain because the main selling point of Amazon is its convenience. If every time you buy something now you need to cross check the price externally to check you are not being ripped off. And cross check that its not a third party seller and if it is to check their reviews.

Depends what you are buying I suppose.

I can't as I get paid in Amazon vouchers for a job I do!

I don’t think I will ever give up Amazon, they ship to my postcode with prime, I’m sick of having to play the will this company ship to my postcode and if they do how much more expensive will it be and then it comes via fucking Royal Mail after paying double with other shops

I think you’re done with yourself not Amazon.

These are all easily avoidable mistakes.

I ordered some ribbon for a birthday cake. It didn’t arrive. So I paid for something I never got. I left a 1 star review which was rejected because the review was about the delivery and not the product. Sorry but if it’s not going to arrive then I don’t want to pay for it. Bye bye Amazon.

Yes I am also looking at alternatives.

I don't actually find their search function helpful. Either totally random or overwhelmed with choices.

I love Amazon, it’s so useful. I order a lot from them and like the TV too.

These all sound like your own issues.

You know you can cancel an order or change it within a specified timeframe

I miss the old Amazon when there wasn't a load of third party sellers of doubtful quality, and no second hand stuff. If I'd wanted that I'd use ebay.

I just want a simpler Amazon, back to the old days, but I guess they've had to diversify because once upon a time they used to be the main online ordering vehicle for a lot of companies who didn't yet have their own decent online shopping procedures in place. Now every man and his dog has a proper website with a proper payment page.

Yes, it's often bad now compared to when it first started.

Yes, I agree with all this. It just didnt used to be the case. Shame.

You can just search for items sold by amazon.

Although I understand the moral arguments against using Amazon, the convenience is unbeatable for me. I don't have time to trail round the shops in search of something. Also, very often when I see an item I like in a shop, when I check, it's cheaper on Amazon. I almost never buy from 3rd part sellers, only from Amazon itself, only items with free Prime shipping. Whenever I've had a problem the customer services have sorted it out quickly and easily. Other online shops tend to charge for delivery and/or returns, and deliver more slowly.

I do buy from Ebay too but have to filter by UK or you get loads of stuff that's free postage from China that takes ages to come.

The hair and beauty products are usually fake so dont buy those from Amazon you have no idea what is in them.

No they’re not.

I like Amazon